3 comments:

2/27/14 AC started with good discussion on veto of SB1062. Despite efforts in talking to the govt rep - I didnt get her name - she couldnt give a direct answer &AC really had her on the spot.As usual Mr Yoshino is a good resource. I realize this is a somewhat small resource for US gay community but as Cansdian am happy for them. Altho not a fan of Out Front I did enjoy the Evangelical minister giving a real Christian view that was refreshing. His type of church is what I would like to see &even attend. The segment on illness in babies seems like someone wants any investigation pushed under the rug. The ice jams are really incredible &worth following you dont need more disasters. Anderson has had some good programs lately hope it will lead to improved ratings. Nice to see program end with a smile in the ridiculist.

Anderson had almost excellent coverage of Gov. Brewer's veto of AZ 1062. Viewers heard from Miguel Marquez, Kenji Yoshino, a female legislator (not sure who she was) and a definite state legislator Demion Clinco. I appreciated seeing both the woman and Clinco because it was 360 giving both sides of the story.

I did check Hayes for a tiny bit so maybe I missed Anderson stating the NFL connection. According to a variety of other sources, the NFL on Wednesday morning was thinking about moving Super Bowl 49 out of Arizona. It was just the very early stages of looking at the possibility of doing so but, as I've stated before, the merest hint of moving the game would move mountains. All in all, I believe the veto decision came down to business and money and a Super Bowl game generates gobs of it.

Gary Tuchman's report on ice jams in Illinois was good but not big news to us here in Minnesota. It's great how Anderson got an interview with Spike Lee the day after his gentrification rant; this may have been new and interesting to other viewers but I read quite a bit of this story earlier in the day.

Also earlier in the day I saw Brian Todd's 'Swiss tax evasion bank accounts' report on Blitzer's show.

The Ridiculist was okay. I'm glad the bait shop owner foiled a robbery with his novelty talking fish. But I'd like to point out that Rochester MN is a sizable city and home to the Mayo Clinic. It's also a city with bait shops.

@Anon 11:53 PM in yesterday's post - While Anderson has covered AZ 1062 very well, I first heard about this story on Hayes' show. Hayes started Wednesday's show with Brewer's veto and so did Maddox. It has also been covered by Blitzer and CNN.com. I don't watch enough of the other CNN shows to say anything about their coverage. The news about AZ 1062 was big nearly everywhere because it's been kind of a slow news week. I agree 'not everybody is gay' but the issue of far-right religious bents making their theology into the law for everybody does concern me and should concern everyone.

Tonight AZ SB1062 was the right choice for the lead story and coverage was pretty good. I would like to have seen Anderson/AC360 talk about the NFL and other major corporations speaking out on Tuesday. I'm guessing this, more than anything was the reason Gov. Brewer defeated the bill and a few Republicans that voted for the bill suddenly had a change of heart Tuesday/Tuesday evening. It wasn't that they truly cared about the discrimination as much as they truly cared about the financial ramifications. These are Republicans we are talking about and their bottom line is the almighty dollar.

I think Sen. John McCain voting against programs to help veterans is the prime example of how $$ seem to trump everything for Republicans.

The AZ bill seems to be an uprising of the dangerous Religious Right that was present in politics several years ago given similar laws proposed in other states. The only difference is that the country has changed and most aren't buying what they have to sell these days.

I watch Brian Williams nightly and kind of compare stories - so I will say that NBC had a segment on the extreme weather with someone in LA talking their expected rains this weekend possibly causing mudslides due to the extreme drought and they also has someone in Chicago talking about how 75% of The Great Lakes are frozen this year compared to 35% in a normal winter. They discussed the problems with ice jams/destruction/flooding that will come with the thaw.

NBC didn't talk about the Swiss bank account story, but then I'm not sure this is news - people have talked about Swiss bank accounts for tax evasion for years. The key statement to me was when Brian Todd said Congress could pass a law to stop it, but hasn't. Again, it affects the 1% so Congress has no incentive to act.

NBC did have a good segment on the Ukraine. I'm perplexed as to why AC360 has moved on from this story as it's on-going, Russia is exerting influence today and has ramification for the balance of Europe.

I understand some being tired of AC360 covering "gay themed" segments to the extreme at times, but AZ SB1062 was a major news lead across networks, so I think Anon 11:53 comments were out of line on this story.

I'm looking forward to Anderson's 60 Minutes report on the dogs. We had a border collie growing up and I always said it was the smartest dog we ever had.

Also thought the Spike Lee interview was a good topic and timely. It's a conversation that seems to get swept under the rug. It showed me that Anderson could be an awesome replacement for Piers Morgan and his format. AC360 seems to be stale and the new format would give Anderson more flexibility - with interviewing al different types of people, talk issues and still cover big breaking news stories. I always felt Anderson should have been Larry King's replacement - it would be a no brainer for Zucker IMO which means it won't happen.